The Lesser Good
Chapter 12
Aurora's Plan
"Shall we actually play a game of chess, Minerva? Seeing as you seem so insistent…" Dumbledore asked the Transfiguration professor and Deputy Headmistress lightheartedly the following night in his office.
"Don't mock, Albus. It is unbecoming of you." Minerva retorted irritably. She had been sitting silently in his office for hours now, for so long that she had lost track of the time. A rather outsized chessboard lay scattered before her upon his stone floors. She sighed and tucked away her wand, which had been trained on the white rook.
"That's enough for tonight, I think. I still have next Thursday's lessons plans to attend to."
"Next Thursday? Minerva, your superlative organisation flabbergasts me!" Dumbledore smiled from behind his desk and the pile of parchments resting upon it. "Why don't you share a nightcap with me and head off for some well-deserved sleep?" he gestured toward a set of drawers in which she knew to contain a bottle of her favourite Gillywater and something stronger for his taste.
"Well…" she started, and upon realising just how thirsty she felt after practicing with such complicated transfiguring, she said: "yes. Very well."
Two glasses suddenly appeared on the small table of the little longue area toward the back of his office… it was a cosy circular area, filled with the oddest magical objects she had ever seen in her life. He poured her drink, lightly tinged with green, into the glass goblet and did the same for himself as she settled herself down into one of the low-slung couches, groaning slightly as she did so.
"I must say," Dumbledore chatted away from the stairs above her. "I am quite impressed with your progress. Filius was just informing me of how difficult he was finding it just to think of a suitably difficult trap…"
"Headmaster, you know very well that time is of the essence here," McGonagall replied, straightening out the creases in her robes. "What with the odd occurrences with the troll on Hallowe'en. You never know what might happen."
Dumbledore said nothing but made his way over the couch opposite her. He handed her the drink to which she nodded a humble thanks.
"And might I just ask…" McGonagall continued as they sipped their goblets. "That I may be allowed to drop the cold shoulder act toward my colleagues? You know that I am your confidant and that my duty is to ensure the safe running of this school according to your needs – but Sinistra is my friend – as are many of the other –"
"A cold shoulder? I mentioned no such task." Dumbledore said rather indignantly.
"You very well might have done!" McGonagall retorted with equal indignation. "'Keep a keen eye on her' you said! Keep an eye on someone who keeps herself to herself! What is there exactly to keep an eye on, Albus? What aren't you telling me? The woman thinks I'm shooting daggers at her at every meal and I can't even explain myself!"
"Minerva," Dumbledore stated calmly but definitively. "I have not asked you to alienate our dear Professor Sinistra, nor any of my staff. There are merely certain aspects of their work that would pay to be informed about."
McGonagall leant forward, her goblet hanging casually between her long fingers. "I realise that Aurora Sinistra may not be the warmest of witches. But you cannot deny she is an incredibly competent academic at the height of her game. Besides, this is what happens when you let ex-Slytherins become teachers…" She added teasingly – House pride was never really out of her mind. "… Of course she is focused on her own ambitions above all others! You cannot chastise her for that, not when her students are performing well above average."
"I do not deny that, nor have I ever." Dumbledore answered cryptically. It was clear that he was going to give her no new further information on the odd task required of her… McGonagall leant back in her chair again and gave a short noise of frustration.
"I would like even just a shred of a peek of the inner workings of that mind of yours," she tutted, taking one last final sip. The Headmaster gave a sudden chuckle.
"I'd wager you would not, once you acquired it. Even I don't understand how my own mind works sometimes: a person with your supreme rationality and wisdom would do best to avoid it completely."
She shook her head impatiently. She really did need to start practicing her Grand Chess Plan somewhere else; in all honesty, though, she rather enjoyed this daily banter between them. Being locked in a castle for the majority of the year would have been hell were it not for the company. She was halfway toward the coffee table, preparatory to setting down her glass when there was a soft knock at the door. Both Headmaster and his Deputy heads shot toward it.
"Enter!" called Dumbledore, cheerful as always.
The door creaked open and in came Severus, buttoned and cloaked up to the nines as always, as if he had been teaching all night. He clearly was not expecting Minerva to be there – for his black eyes lingered upon her for a while before turning back to Dumbledore.
"Severus! Minerva and I were just having a quiet drink," Dumbledore informed him, standing up to full height. "Would you care to join us? Perhaps you may discuss how your specific protections are coming along?"
"No, I'd rather not, Headmaster." He replied, his eyes flickering toward the Transfiguration professor once again. "I just came up to… if I could arrange a time to meet with you over the next few days, that would be appreciated."
"I was just leaving, Severus – if you wanted to talk to Albus privately…" McGonagall informed him politely as she too got up and begun walking toward him.
"No," the younger teacher assured. Clearly he had been completely expecting Dumbledore to be alone. "I need to be getting back to my own work." He cast a quick glance at the chess piece with its players lying motionless upon the board.
"Well, I certainly have some free time at lunch tomorrow – if you would like to pop up then?" Dumbledore offered politely.
"First Quidditch match tomorrow, Albus." McGonagall reminded him gently from behind his shoulder.
"Ah, yes," he nodded in acknowledgement. "Well – the evening then."
Severus opened his mouth to say something, but appeared to pause in thought for a while before he finally relented. "Well… yes. I'll come back to your office after we come back from - "
"Azkaban…" Dumbledore said, finishing his sentence for him, his eyes finally showing a glimpse of guilt. "I apologise, Severus, my mind has been on other things."
"Not at all." Snape replied, waving his apologies away. Their eyes lingered on one another for a while, and Minerva couldn't help but notice that her Slytherin colleague's eyes were alight with what looked like suspicion, though she had no idea for what reason this would be. Then again, when it came to Albus and his schemes, she didn't think she would ever harbor much of an idea. With a simple, curt nod to both of them, Snape turned on his heel and walked out of the office noiselessly.
"What are you up to?" McGonagall said questionably behind his back as he watched the Potions Master exit.
"Up to?" Dumbledore repeated, finally turning to look her in the eye. "I must confess that I am up to many things. None of which are underhanded in any way, I assure you."
Yes… McGonagall thought with a twinge of anxiety. Well that's a subjective viewpoint if I ever heard one.
I will have to take it upon myself to find a better way to locate various staff members - this is ridiculous. Severus thought bitterly to himself as he struggled up the Astronomy tower, panting profusely and feeling like a particularly overweight hippopotamus. It was always the last place he checked when he needed to find Borealis, with the hope that he wouldn't have to force himself to feel like he'd run a marathon due to her inhabiting a far more convenient location. Unfortunately the tower was also the location of her office, and therefore he often found himself heading up here anyway.
This night he was particularly keen in catching her. He had only meant to have a quick discussion with Dumbledore regarding Quirrell's odd behavior in the forest last night… but there was something in Headmaster's eyes that had unnerved him. And skilled at Occlumency as he undoubtedly was, Snape was good enough a Legilimens to pick up a signal or two; and he swore that he had seen a split second visualization of Aurora's face behind Dumbledore's eyes – and it had been tainted with apprehension and discontentment.
Finally, the striking sight of the observatory ceiling came into view. The great, gargantuan silver telescope towered above him, focused penetratingly into the final frontier. As he grew closer and closer to the circular planetarium slash classroom, he could hear the faint sounds of voices coming from overhead. So Borealis definitely was here – good. He couldn't quite figure out the owner of the other muffled voice, however. As Severus reached the classroom and wandered slowly around the numerous smaller telescopes, casually running his fingers over one of brass contraptions, he realised that the voices sounded rather heated. In fact, it sounded remarkably like a fiery argument as opposed to a minor disagreement. He decided to wait his turn in the classroom until her office door opened; he took a seat next to one of the telescopes and lazily began glimpsing through the eyepiece – fiddling with the focus so that the blurry dots turned into brilliant blue, white and pink clusters before his eyes. Christ, it had been years since he had studied anything through a telescope. It was so far removed from potions and his other work that he had never had the slightest reason to stargaze. He couldn't help but find the different skill requirement somewhat therapeutic.
The heated voices continued in the background as he casually attempted to disregard them. It was no easy feat… having spent years as Dumbledore's spy and years prior as a spy for the Dark Lord, it was extraordinarily difficult for him to voluntarily miss anything. But he did feel uncomfortable encroaching on Aurora's privacy; he knew that if it were him and he was aware that she had overheard a private quarrel without having the decency to excuse herself from the room, he wouldn't be the most forgiving man in the world.
Severus would be damned if he would be forced to venture all the way back down the stairs for nothing, however.
All of a sudden, the adjoining wooden door connecting to the classroom swung open – banging against the stone so forcefully that it made Severus lose focus of what he assumed was the Pleiades cluster.
"I would just politely ask that next time you decided to insult my entire life's work, you do it in the privacy of your own company! Not in front of an entire group of seventh-years!" came the infuriated voice of Professor Trelawney. Snape couldn't resist looking up now that he knew who it was. Trelawney Sinistra spars were always so very entertaining. From just behind the back of her bushy hair he could just catch a flash of Sinistra's expression… it looked absolutely livid.
"I did not insult your life's work. Whatever that is!" Aurora bit irately. "A student merely raised a question with me that I felt was better directed at a Professor versed in more artistic subjects!"
"From what he has told me, it was a perfectly legitimate question! I fail to see how you couldn't just answer it in a mature, respectful fashion! But of course… it is you after all."
"The boy was fretting about the position of Venus and the impact it would have on his sleeping patterns, Sybill! Did you really expect me to keep a straight face?"
"No! No, I would not to be honest, Aurora!" Trelawney countered, her hair flying everywhere in fits of fury. "I wouldn't expect anyone with such a lack of intuition and spiritual awareness to truly understand the nuances of what I teach! I might as well be talking to a brick wall!"
"Oh you will be in a few seconds!"
Severus couldn't help but smirk behind his telescope.
"You… I…" Trelawney was clearly so infuriated that she was finding it hard to speak. "Please. Next time, tell the students that I should be the one to field such intricate questions. Don't you dare tell them that the workings of the universe has absolutely no impact on anyone's ' inconsequential day-to-day activities'!"
Aurora pulled herself up to full height; one arm resting upon the arch of the door, the other toying with the handle.
"I shan't blatantly lie to my students, Sybill. It would be unprofessional of me." She simpered.
It appeared that was the end of the line for the Divination professor. She gave a great screech of indignation. "JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE UNABLE OF SEEING PAST THE END OF YOUR TELESCOPE, DOESN'T MEAN THE REST OF US AREN'T CAPABLE OF SOMETHING MORE EXTRAORDINARY!"
"Oh, shut your musty clap-trap, you old fool! Go back to gawping into your half-drunk mug of tepid Earl Grey and calling it a noble vocation! I have some proper research to undertake."
The door slammed shut in the older woman's face. She blinked and spluttered at it for a few moments, before heaving a histrionic and angry sigh and snapping around to face the rest of the classroom. It was perhaps due to her ironically bad eyesight that she did not spot Severus waiting in the wings until she stalked a good couple of feet from him.
"Anything the matter?" he enquired with his staple lip-curl.
"She is the most insufferable woman I have ever met!" was Trelawney's fuming retort. Her face was as red as beetroot and her hands were shaking. "I have never met such an arrogant, haughty elitist in all my years! How anyone finds the ability to possess their own views in the same room as her is astonishing with her great big head taking up all of the space!"
Snape finally released the telescope from his grasp.
"Well, I have the utmost sympathy with you there..." He replied shortly.
Without further exchange, Trelawney stormed back down the spiral staircase muttering about ignorant colleagues and the damage they inflict upon her more sensitive students. Severus waited until the footsteps were out of earshot and then faced the closed door. Perhaps not the best time to make any requests from here… but if it wasn't this then it would be another damned thing, he was sure.
Snape strode over to her office door and rapped his knuckle across it. What she would do to him if he took it upon himself to just waltz on in did not bear thinking about. It was a few seconds before he heard any reply.
"What?"
Taking that as permission – he pushed open the door. Aurora was leaning back in her chair with her boots crossed on her desk, and she was currently in the process of cramming the biggest block of chocolate he had ever seen into her already puffy mouth.
Upon glaring inquisitively at the second caller, she looked toward the ceiling and let out an exasperated noise – which was not so appealing with a mouthful of chocolate.
"Oh, for - ! It never ends..." she yelled, her tones were muffled but her mood was perfectly apparent. "What is it now, Snape?"
He surveyed her carefully before he allowed himself into the office.
"Charming to the last," he drawled.
"I do not exist to charm anyone, let alone you," Aurora bit back, taking a long swallow and turning to her glass goblet of wine instead. "I suggest you make it quick; thanks to Ms. Mist-For-Brains, I'm rather far behind on my article."
"Oh?" Snape enquired curiously, looming over her shoulder and stretching his neck to take an inquisitive glance. "Anything interesting? Your last one was very patchy in areas, but not all together atrocious."
"Don't pretend you know a thing about radiation levels on Io - you'll only embarrass yourself. No. I thought I'd tackle Quasar Spectras this month. That alright with you?"
"Perfectly," he replied, finally shaking off the moronic insecurities invoked in him when she was in a particularly bad mood and sitting down on one of the chairs by the door. "Anyway, I shan't keep you long. Contrary to what you may believe, I do not take much pleasure watching you rant and consume your weight in sweetstuffs and alcohol. I have come with an offer… of sorts…"
"No," was her quick answer, without looking up from her quill.
"You haven't even heard my proposition."
"I know what your proposition is."
"Would you get your mind out of the gutter for once in your life!" he snapped angrily. A few minutes of complete silence followed this heated exchange, it was apparent that Sinistra had no more fight left in her this evening after the dealings with the teaching equivalent of her arch nemesis. He let her come to a stop on a page before he started up again, trying with all his might to instill calm in his voice.
"I went to talk to the Headmaster today," he continued softly. She began dripping her quill back into the inkpot again – it was very clear that she would still rather he not be here. "It appears that I may have found the cause of his recent behavior toward you."
It was the first time since he had arrived that she had shown any sign of genuine interest. Sinistra's head popped up from her desk, and she turned in her chair to look at him, her eyebrows raised.
"Really?" she exclaimed. "You finally managed to wheedle it out of him, did you?"
"Not in so many words, but close enough," he replied. "My Legilimency skills finally proved themselves worthy. I saw something. Your face, to be precise."
"And what does that prove? That he fancies me? I thought he didn't swing that way-"
Severus leant back in his chair in exasperation. "Is it really that difficult for you to shut your mouth and listen for once in your damned life? Just-!" he shot up a hand to stop her as she opened her mouth to give what was undoubtedly another droll retort. When it was clear that she was not going to interrupt him any further, he continued: "Legilimency doesn't quite work in the simple way you think it does. He was not merely thinking of you when I saw that vision. It was connected to myself somehow… mixed with my own being… of course that leaves it up to the Legilimens to make the intricate connections."
"And what connections did this Legilimens make?"
He unconsciously bit down on his thumb in deep consideration.
"That he knows something about us… and obviously seeing as he cannot gauge the finer details of our purely physical… arrangements… I believe he has made his own conclusions."
Aurora looked him up and down from her chair, as if considering his words very carefully. Then she finally replied: "and you think that is why he has been ignoring me and keeping us at each others throats? Why?"
Severus halted for a moment. He did have an inkling why Dumbledore was so apprehensive about his suspicion that they may be some sort of romantic link between them, even if said suspicions were greatly misinformed; the inkling, however, angered him to a point where he could not dwell on it. Surely Dumbledore would not be that selfish? To want to deny him happiness in this fashion because he felt that Severus's loyalty to him might waver? His loyalty to Lily? No, he simply could not believe that.
Aurora, of course, was oblivious to all of this. And he did not intend on giving her a first-hand history lesson on all of his life's disappointments and emotional tragedies tonight. Or any night for that matter.
"I do not know," he lied. "Perhaps he believes it would affect our work."
"Balls to what he believes!" Aurora said angrily. "If I find out that he has been deliberately ostracizing me from both my work and my colleagues because he doesn't want us dating each other - believe me, there will be hell to pay."
That was not the answer Severus had been hoping for, especially when he had been planning his next offer so carefully.
"There is nothing you can to sway his mind, Aurora! The best defense is ensuring that he remains completely unaware; else you might as well pack your bags tonight. There is no denying that you are forthrightly abysmal at the cerebral magical arts. You need to learn to shield your mind from him and his influences."
The light appeared to finally switch in her brain. She twisted even further in her seat so that her body was now fully aligned with his, her chin resting upon her right hand. Her eyes were flashing a dangerous warning.
"Occlumency?" she said, in a disgusted tone. "You really think I am going to submit myself to you in that way? You need your own head looking at before you go poking around in mine."
"I am merely offering to teach - "
"You are offering something I do not want, nor have ever wanted, to learn! Least of all by you!" she spat, now foregoing the sitting altogether and rising to full height. He, however, remained in his chair, observing her cautiously. "I don't have anything to hide from him. He can believe what he will – I am perfectly entitled to do and say as I wish within the confinements of the code of practices laid out before me. I am breaking no rules, or laws. We are not hurting anybody. Why should I change my behaviour when no such change is warranted! Do you actually have feelings for me… is that it?"
The last question appeared unnervingly genuine; it set warning bells off all over his mind.
"No." He exclaimed immediately. "No. Let us again make that perfectly clear to begin with. Though, infuriating and stubborn as you are, I cannot say that I altogether hate you…"
"Oh, touching…" Aurora replied in a mocking tone of appreciation.
"… And I would rather it be you teaching Astronomy than whatever other bungling nitwit Dumbledore manages to find. It appears finding competent teachers are really not his forte." Snape continued. "Besides…" he said with just the slightest flavour of apprehension. "… You are very useful in other ways."
"Well, rest assured that I do not plan to go anywhere in the near future," she replied, resting against the back of her chair. "I will remain being useful to you until I am no longer useful - and I'll continue anyway just to annoy you." She finally gave a relieving smirk, which diffused the tension between them significantly. "Thank you for the offer, but I am afraid I must politely decline."
Severus could see her point, even if he did not agree with it. It had been a very difficult barrier to get over ever since they had started their sexual encounters; so high of a barrier, in fact, that he had made her an explicit promise that he would never attempt to delve into her mind, or her thoughts, or even attempt to try and read her. It was a kind of trust that he took very seriously indeed. It wasn't everyday that someone did sincerely trust him with anything… he would never break that bond lightly. And she was very protective of her mind.
"I am sure there is nothing in there that I haven't experienced, or worse." He replied, almost teasingly this time – as it was clear that Aurora was never going to allow him any closer.
She sniffed in amusement, and her eyes became glazed as if deep in recollection.
"It isn't the severity of the memories," she said simply. "It is more the content that I would rather be kept private."
So no Occlumency for Aurora. That seemed a fairly ironclad ruling. Snape could do nothing but sigh.
"Then there is nothing more to discuss," he put simply.
"I guess not." She replied with equal coldness.
She was avoiding his eyes this time, looking everywhere but at his face. So now not only had he failed in keeping Dumbledore out of their business – Aurora was beginning to think that he was becoming untrustworthy. The one thing he had strived against for years.
He had obviously been trying to catch her gaze for far too long, because she had picked up her quill and turned back to her studies.
"You can show yourself out." She said nonchalantly into her papers.
And so he swept out from her office without any unnecessary pleasantries.
The door clicked shut in a far quieter fashion than it had done when Aurora had slammed it shut in Trelawney's face. The quill in her hand was trembling so much that she had almost completely cut through the parchment, and her heart was racing.
Albus Dumbledore. The man who held the entire workings of the universe in his palm. Who manipulated the environment around according to his will.
She cursed hotly under her breath and slammed the quill back into its pot. How on earth could she be expected to concentrate on her work for the rest of the night? If it wasn't Sybill yelling obscenities at her, it was Severus trying to coerce her into having all of her deepest thoughts and memories toyed with despite his promise that he would never attempt to break into her mind, or it was Dumbledore pulling at their puppet-strings, denying all around him a shred of happiness. Well, no more. She was going to put a sharp stop to all of his schemes.
She reached for the last of the chocolate bar, her weekly indulgence so graciously given to her by the house elves had slightly melted under her lamp and stuck to her fingers as she picked it up and scoffed it down angrily – this was followed very closely by sculling her goblet of wine. So Dumbledore thought that she served as too much of a distraction to his Potions Master, did he? Was he afraid of Severus getting too close to anyone? Or was it just her in particular? Would his great plans be undone?
Well, Aurora thought with a resolve so strong it could match even his, if he feared her 'influences' so much then it would only be fear to unleash it in en masse. All that was needed was for her to possess a little control over her own emotions… to allow him to see only that which she wanted him to see.
That should be easy enough, shouldn't it? Perhaps with the right… inspiration…
Thoughts and plans buzzing throughout her head, Sinistra casually blew out the light of her office and began making her own way to her bed.
More reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. As always, thanks for the favourites and very thorough reviews so far.
